


What was his name again?

by Priscibeur



Series: His Anchor [1]
Category: Hit the Floor (TV), Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Agent Jude Kindade, Alec and Jude are besties, Book Signing, First Meeting, M/M, Magnus is a fan, Professor Magnus Bane, They bond over their broken hearts, Writer Alec Lightwood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-29
Updated: 2018-11-29
Packaged: 2019-09-02 05:56:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16780978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Priscibeur/pseuds/Priscibeur
Summary: Alec is doing a book signing in New York and one of his fans is Magnus.





	What was his name again?

**Author's Note:**

> That is the first thing I've managed to write in so long. I wrote it in one sitting (yay) so it's not long but it felt right. It might also lead to something more after, but I make no promises. I hope you'll enjoy it.
> 
> Beta-read by boubou

“‘Nowadays, everyone wants to be famous. To go viral. To be trending, recognized and loved. But that’s not love. That’s not recognition. You just happened to do one thing that will attract people’s attention for a time then, they’ll just forget about you. They’ll forget you even existed and will only remember you to quote the _one_ interesting thing you did many years ago. And when it’s all over, when you won’t be relevant anymore, you will look around and ask yourself ‘Was it all worth it? Was losing the people I love worth it?’ And that will be the exact moment when you’ll regret pushing them away.’”

Alec looked up and sent a small smile at his attendance. They were all quietly listening, some with admiration in their eyes, other with tears and the rest with clear disagreement. These people made Alec smile even more. He liked that his book had created a debate within the society. Well, he hated to acknowledge how big his book had gotten, but he couldn’t help but be proud of it. He had decided to share his story, share his feelings and hoped to connect with people and it had happened. His book went #1 so fast he didn’t even have time to realize what was happening. Tours, meet-ups, talk shows, meetings with directors and producers… Everyone had an opinion about “ _Trending_ ”, everyone noticed the infatuation around it and everyone wanted to be a part of the buzz. No matter how small.

It always amused Alec to think about how the society was reflecting exactly what his book was about. His book was a success, everybody was talking about it, explaining how “grounded in reality” it was, how it was going to change people’s perception of life but it had not. Alec knew he was lucky to be in his current position but he also hated how right he was about everything and everyone around him. Nothing — no one — was truly organic nor sincere anymore. And when you had the chance to meet someone true and authentic, you had to hold on to them.

Someone from the staff approached him and asked him to follow them, so they could start the book signing. That was one of his favorite parts. Getting to meet people, exchange a few words with them and sometimes debate about their opinions on life in general. Alec had met many different people, with many different opinions so he was ready to debate on anything. Yet, there was always that one person who would catch his interest and they’d end up talking for way too long. Hopefully, that wouldn’t be happening today because Alec couldn’t wait to meet up with his family. He was in New-York and would be taking a few weeks break after being on the road for almost two months. He knew Europe was next so spending time with his family was something he desperately needed if he wanted to survive.

Don’t get him wrong, he loved to meet his fans but his niece was born a few days ago and he had yet to meet her. He just needed to go to his sister’s house and meet this new addition to the family, who arrived right on time for the holidays. He couldn’t wait to hold her, spoil her and also see his sister again, but mostly his niece. He sat on his chair and nodded at Jude, his agent, who was watching as a few people were talking to him. They had agreed on less than 50 people for this book signing, both having people to go back to. Jude nodded back, like an assurance that he would be done soon. Alec sighed quietly and put on a smile, ready to meet people.

The first fans arrived, mostly shy teenagers, gushing about how pretty Alec was and how much his book had inspired them to unplug a bit from social media and the pressure around them. It made Alec sad to see that some people needed to be confronted with the reality of things to understand how toxic their environment could be. He wasn’t surprised, far from it, because he had seen how important it was for some people and how much it could destroy them and the people around them. He was all for following one’s dreams and working hard, but not for changing your personality in order to please the majority and lose yourself in the process. Nothing was more precious than staying true to yourself and be at peace with yourself.

That’s what he told some fans who explained how lost they felt at times, because they were trying to please their entourage or the community following them. He tried to advise them as best as he could. To remind them that they had to make themselves truly happy and stop trying to live up to an ideal if that was not what they were aiming for.

Then he had to face fans who exposed his hypocrisy. Here he was, apparently telling the truth about how rotten society was and how people needed to stop trying to be relevant, but what was he doing? Wasn’t he doing the exact same thing? Trying to be relevant by being edgy and doing something supposedly “outside the box”? He kept a polite smile on and explained that he was not trying to be edgy or to become relevant. He would have been fine even if his book hadn’t become this successful. He simply wrote because he felt the need to express what he was feeling and everything that had followed was just bonus. To make peace with his feelings that were destroying him had been his main focus at the time. He was just happy that so many people connected to him and hoped he managed to bring some light into their lives.

He stopped to think for a few seconds, and sighed quietly. He would’ve thought that after all this time promoting this book, these feelings would have gone away and that he wouldn’t feel so affected by them anymore but he seemed to be wrong. It still hurt after so many years and he should come to terms with the idea that they would always eat him alive, no matter how hard he tried. The only thing that prevented him from breaking down at that point was when he looked up at Jude who showed him ten fingers. Ten people left. He could do it. He turned his head towards the new fan and felt his smile freeze on his face.

The man standing before him was _beautiful_. No other words could come to Alec’s mind and that was saying a lot considering his profession. He had a caramel-like skin, deep black hair and dark brown eyes. His black coat covered most of his body but he was tall, almost Alec’s size, but his height was not what caught Alec’s attention. No. The glasses he wore did that. They were round, in a light brown color and just perfectly matched everything else about him. His large smile made Alec blink multiple times before he slightly shook his head to gain his senses back. He seemed older than most people he had met today and it intrigued Alec. This exchange was bound to be interesting.

“Hi” he started, as he took his book. “What’s your name?”

“Magnus” the man answered, with a deep voice.

Alec had to close his eyes, for a few seconds, not wanting to let the voice disturb him even more.

“Do you want anything specific written?” he asked him.

“Not necessarily. Though, I wouldn’t be opposed to hearing more about what inspired you to write this book” Magnus explained.

“A broken-heart and a big slap in the face from society” Alec joked.

“It’s good to know I’m not the only one it happened to” Magnus simply said.

Alec stopped his movements and looked up. Magnus was leaning on the table and was very - _very_ \- close to him.

“You got your heart broken by your lover’s dreams which were too big for you to be in?” Alec inquired.

“Yes, and not just once” Magnus admitted, with a sad smile.

“I’m sorry it happened to you” Alec said sincerely.

“Don’t apologize” Magnus told him. “I got over it the first time by burying myself into work, and the second time thanks to your book. I’m glad it happened. It made me realize things don’t always go according to plan, but the changes can bring you even better things.”

He was not talking about Alec. He was definitely not talking about Alec, yet the writer couldn’t help but feel like he was, in a way.

“I agree” Alec answered and he did. Getting his heart broken all these years ago allowed him to feel things he had never encountered before and it allowed him to write this book which got him where he is today, happier than he ever was. “I’m glad if my book helped you in any way.”

“I intend to have an entire lesson based on your book, so trust me, it did” Magnus smiled when Alec closed his book.

“A lesson?” Alec asked, intrigued.

“I’m a professor, at Columbia. I work for the English and Comparative Literature department” he told him.

“Impressive” Alec said sincerely.

“Not as much as being a best-seller author” Magnus smiled back.

Alec chuckled lightly and nodded, without truly understanding what was happening at the moment. It was like his brain had stopped working and there was no filter between his thoughts and his mouth. Things could get embarrassing really fast if he didn’t get himself together soon.

Someone cleared their throat not far from him and he turned his head to see Jude showing his watch. Time was ticking and he should move on to the next person. But, he didn’t want to. He wanted to keep talking to Magnus for hours and hours. Listen to his voice and just stare at his eyes, while doing so. Alec took one of his business cards from the inside pocket of his jacket and wrote on the other side, before slipping the card in the book and handing it back to Magnus.

“There’s my private number on it” he heard himself say. “Call me, when the new semester starts, I’d love to come and talk to your students” _And you_ , he wanted to add but kept himself from doing so. Giving his number like that was not something he did very often, mostly because he couldn’t really see when someone was interested but this time, he was, so he had to try.

Magnus sent him a soft smile and bit his bottom lip as he nodded.

“I’ll make sure to do so. Thank you for taking the time, Mr. Lightwood” he simply said.

“Please, call me Alec.”

Magnus nodded again.

“See you soon, Alec.”

And with that, Magnus left the library and Alec went on auto-pilot mode. He took the time to share some words with the rest of the fans there, but his mind kept going back to Magnus. There was something about him. Something that had made Alec forget about everything around him and made him want to talk for hours and just, never stop talking to him.

When he signed the last book, he leaned back against his chair and looked at Jude, who approached him with a sly smile on his face.

“You gave him your number, huh?” he started as he leaned on the table next to Alec.

The writer groaned and let his head fall back.

“I’m an idiot” he let out.

Jude laughed and shook his head.

“You’re not an idiot. You just followed your gut. It’s been a while since you did that” he simply added.

Alec pursed his lips and nodded. It had been a long time indeed. He had stopped dating, even flirting, long ago and only started paying attention to men a few months back when Jude had given him the number of a friend of his. The date went terribly but it had helped him “get back in the game”, as Jude’s partner would say. Which made Alec realize something.

“You’re gonna tell him, aren’t you?” he sighed.

“You know I am” Jude admitted. “But it’s good for you, Alec! Who knows? Maybe he’s the one.”

“Or I’m just gonna end up with my heart broken again” he replied.

“Maybe. But you’ll never know if you never try, right?” Jude countered, amused by the situation and Alec rolled his eyes. That was the exact same pep-talk Alec had given him when Jude didn’t know whether to go out with that basketball player or not.

“You need to stop quoting me against me” he groaned. Jude laughed again and put his hand on his shoulder.

“Just don’t think about it too much, okay?” he told him. “Right now, just go home, enjoy your family and the holidays. We’ll meet up again mid-January, go around Europe and after that, maybe you’ll see that guy again.”

Alec nodded.

“You’re right.”

“I know, that’s why I’m the agent” he teased Alec. “Come on, you have a niece to meet and I have a plane to catch.”

“I still don’t understand how you and Gideon make it work” Alec stated as he stood up and put on his coat.

“Love, commitment and trust” Jude enumerated. “We both know we’ll be able to have the life we want for ourselves at some point. So for now, we just hang in there and make the most of our moments together.”

Alec stopped on his way to the exit and looked at Jude, who seemed surprised. Jude had been there since the beginning. He had been the one who believed in him, who convinced him to send his script, who was there when he got rejected and the first to know when he finally got a positive answer. They were friends when Alec got deceived and had his dreams crushed, same as Alec was there when things got complicated for Jude. They had been each other’s anchor until Jude had found a new one, who would be there for him until the end. Now, it was time for Alec to find his anchor.

“Maybe this guy could be your Gideon” Jude declared. “What was his name again?”

“Magnus. His name was Magnus.”


End file.
